Fernando Alonso has hailed his start from the front row at the Monaco Grand Prix as a “pretty big” result for Aston Martin, and the new partnership aims to add more trophies to its growing trophy case on Sunday.
Alonso pushed Red Bull rival Max Verstappen to pole position in the Principality, but ultimately had to settle for second on the grid, finishing less than a tenth behind the reigning two-time world champion.
READ MORE: Verstappen snatches pole position from Alonso in thrilling Monaco GP qualifying session
Nonetheless, the Spaniard is in a prime position to continue his and Aston Martin’s strong start to the season, having placed in the top three in four of the five races held so far in 2023, and he expects the result may be even better this time. .
“I feel good,” Alonso said after qualifying. “Obviously pole position means a lot here in Monaco, but Max was a bit quicker today, which is a shame. But I think the front row on the grid for us is very important here.
“The last sector seems to be our weak point on the circuit, but let’s see tomorrow what we can do in terms of strategy, if there is any weather we will try to win.”
One of the main opportunities for Alonso to overtake Verstappen will come early in the race, and the 41-year-old offered an intriguing answer when asked about his chances of getting to Sainte Devote first.
“I mean, it’s too short for Turn 1, but we usually get off to a good start this year,” he commented. “Max is a bit inconsistent, so he might be one of those bad guys tomorrow…”
Alonso was the only Aston Martin driver on pole shootout after teammate Lance Stroll suffered a Q2 exit after scale drama, so there was no more action, and a scruffy finish on his last lap , leaving him in 14th place.
“I went deep [at La Rascasse], I lost about half a second there,” explained the Canadian. “But the whole lap felt pretty horrible and I really didn’t feel very good in the car; bad tire preparation and a lot of things just went wrong, so we have to look into it.”
Adding context to his missed call to the weighing platform, which forced the Aston Martin mechanics to act, he added: “I didn’t see the signal at all and then we were pushed back so it was annoying.